The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

The Police Crimestoppers and Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Culture (MOYSC) Panthers both earned blowout wins this past Saturday at the AF Adderley Gymnasium. The second-seeded Crimestoppers blasted the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) Rampage 78-58 to earn a 20-point blowout win. The Panthers, the league’s defending champions, delivered a 40-point drubbing to the Real Deal Rangers in their 85-45 win. Both teams now sit 1-0 in their respective best-of-three series.

Police Crimestoppers vs RBDF Rampage

The Rampage were already struggling coming into the Bahamas Government Departmental Basketball Association (BGDBA) playoffs. The RBDF basketball team had dropped four straight games prior to the opening game of the postseason and the trend continued on Saturday night. The Crimestoppers took advantage from the opening tip and had already climbed out to a 12-point lead (20-8) by the end of the first quarter.

In the second period, the league’s second best team kept their feet on the gas pedal to overwhelm the Rampage. Kirklyn Farrington played a key role in the team’s blowout victory. He drained two free throws at the 2:24 mark in the second quarter to stretch the team’s lead to 19 (36-17).

Farrington ended the game with a team-high 17 points along with three timely three-pointers from behind the arc, and four free throws at the charity stripe. Michael Furley Bain Jr was Farrington’s running mate on the court. He dropped 14 points to pair with seven boards, three assists and two steals on the night.

The Rampage were able to close the gap to 39-26 to head to the locker room for halftime. The team tried to keep the bout close behind the efforts of De’Joan Sturrup who led both teams with 23 points. Sturrup also pulled down six rebounds, and forced three steals in the game. Ultimately, the Crimestoppers’ gameplan in the third period derailed the Rampage’s second quarter momentum. The team ended the third period in the driver’s seat, leading 60-40 over their opponent. After that juncture in the game, the Crimestoppers never looked back en route to their first win of the series.

Anthony “Cops” Rolle, head coach of the Crimestoppers, said the win felt great but the team still has some adjustments to make on the offensive and defensive end.

“It feels pretty good just to get a win against any team in such a competitive league. Even though we had a comfortable win, there are still some things that we have to do better as a team,” he said.

According to Rolle, the guards have to improve their perimeter defence and, on offence, they need more overall movement for better offensive flow.

In terms of the team’s postseason expectations the Crimestoppers are going after the championship hardware.

MOYSC Panthers vs The Real Deal Rangers

The BGDBA Panthers had a strong opening to the playoffs after delivering a 40-point beatdown to the Real Deal Rangers. The latter struggled against the BGDBA defending champions from the first period of play. The Panthers asserted their dominance early in the game after jumping out to a 16-point lead to wrap up the first quarter.

In the following period, the game plan remained unchanged for the Panthers as they pushed the lead to 41-21 at the 2:41 mark of the game. The team ended the quarter leading their opponents by 18 points to transition into the halftime break.

The Real Deal Rangers struggled offensively in the game. The team collectively shot a dismal 28.4 per cent from the field and 12.5 per cent from behind the arc. Additionally, they did not capitalise at the charity stripe as they shot 4/23 on 17.4 per cent shooting.

The Real Deal Rangers only had one player score in double digits, Dwight Moss Jr. Meanwhile, the Panthers shared the load on offence, having four players notch double digits in points.

Kemsey Sylvestre, of the MOYSC Panthers, led both teams in scoring with 19 points on the night. He shot the ball flawlessly going 9/10 in the game on a crisp 90 per cent shooting clip. The team’s leading scorer also stole the ball four times, and dished out four dimes.

The game was a foregone conclusion long before the final buzzer as the Panthers amassed a 37-point lead to culminate the third period and, ultimately, the game for their first playoff win.

Perry Darling, head coach of the Panthers, said it was a great feeling to win and he felt the team played like the defending champions.

“In the regular season it was hard to find our chemistry because we had players traveling on summer vacation and work obligations but we had our full team tonight and stuck with our gameplan,” he said.

He acknowledged that being the league’s defending champions is one of the hardest things because every night teams are coming for you. However, he believes that the team is capable of repeating once they stick to the game plan.

Game two of these respective series will continue on Wednesday starting at 7:30pm at the AF Adderley gymnasium.